N.S. vows to watch Bluenose II costs

Project now has $19m price tag; Whalen says appropriate spending will be ensured

Nova Scotia’s finance minister said her government “will be watching every single dollar that goes out the door” on the Bluenose II restoration project.

“We want to make sure that nothing is done that isn’t rectifying the situation and doing it in the best way possible,” said Diana Whalen.

Whalen made the comments the day after her government approved a cash flow request for the project that amounts to $1.1 million and pushes the project to its present $19-million total. It is now almost $5 million over budget, two years behind schedule and has no confirmed end date.

There is a chance the project could exceed $24 million when disputed work claims, which the builders say are worth $5 million, and changes to the steel rudder and steering system are finalized.

Whalen said there have been many errors in the past and the project now requires “some real expertise to pull it together.” She said Treasury Board asked on Wednesday for a complete list of approved invoices to see what work has been done.

The invoice list is also going to David Darrow, the top deputy minister in government and the man Premier Stephen McNeil tapped at the end of May to take over the file. Darrow has not been made available to speak to the media since taking control of the project, despite Whalen referring several questions to him on Thursday.

Whalen said she is “anxiously awaiting” the auditor general’s review of the file. She said that work has started and there is no requirement that any reports must wait until the restoration work is complete.

“I think if he has some observations or information for government, we’ll hear it sooner,” she said.

“I don’t think it has to wait until it’s all over because there could be some instructive information there that we need.”

The minister said the Liberals inherited many problems with the file when they came into government. While that’s true, there have also been problems under the Grits’ watch.

A scheduled test drive had to be cancelled when the proper paperwork and permits weren’t obtained in time. Communities, Culture and Heritage Minister Tony Ince, who called for the test drive, was out of the country on vacation at the time of the cancellation.

Now Darrow, an engineer by trade, is in charge.

Whalen said that while it’s the aim to have the ship sail this season, she doesn’t think “anybody can say confidently it will.”

Although there’s no money budgeted for the project this year, Whalen said future requirements would likely come from the restructuring fund, something that’s traditionally used to settle contracts, legal disputes or deal with unexpected problems.